Surgeries can generally be grouped in laparoscopic or minimally-invasive surgeries and open surgeries. In this sense, open surgeries should be understood as traditional surgeries which require a relatively long incision in order for the surgeon to insert instruments and visualize the surgery through the incision, whereas minimally-invasive surgeries are much less invasive and involve much smaller incisions. With an open approach, e.g. The incision for a typical appendectomy is approximately 10 cm (4 inches) long. While, using minimally-invasive techniques, the incisions may range from 0.5 to 1.5 cm (¼ to ½ inch) or for some surgeries even no incisions at all.
The key element in laparoscopic surgery is the use of a laparoscope, i.e. a long fiber optic cable system which allows viewing of the affected area. Laparoscopic surgeries belong to the field of endoscopy, i.e. using an endoscope which is an instrument used to examine the interior of a hollow organ or cavity of the body. In laparoscopic surgery, the surgeon is actually performing the surgery from outside the patient's body, removed from the actual intervention site. Surgical instruments are controlled from a distance and reach the intervention site through a tubular body, e.g. a catheter.
Illumination devices for illuminating medical procedures are known. Since practitioners in the several medical fields of specialization usually need enhanced visualization of a body tissue and/or body cavities, a variety of illumination systems have been designed to address this issue.
There are currently several ways to illuminate a medical procedure, such as e.g. open surgeries in an operating room. One option is overhead lighting mounted in a ceiling. Surgical lights may be fixed in the ceiling or be suspended from a ceiling with an arm that can be manipulated to reposition and reorient the light. However, these kinds of lighting usually provide a general and diffuse kind of illumination, which may lack the precision needed to point towards and adequately illuminate the desired target depending on the kind of intervention. The light may encounter obstacles that cast a shadow over said target, particularly in interventions in bodily cavities or openings.
Another option is the use of lighting devices held in a person's hand. In such a case, surgeons or other operating room personnel may employ handheld lighting devices, such as surgical flashlights. However, during the time that the surgeon is holding the device, his/her hand that is holding the lamp is unable to perform other actions. If instead such a device is held by other personnel, the accuracy in lighting the target might not correspond to the surgeon's specific demands. As a solution to overcome some of the aforementioned limitations, surgical headlights may be used. However, surgical headlights commonly are heavy, and can be uncomfortable. They also need positioning and possibly adjustments during surgery, again requiring a free hand to do so. Furthermore, the headlight and all related apparatus are unsterile, so that precautions must be taken in order to avoid contamination of the surgical field.
In a similar manner, during open surgeries practitioners usually need ways to indicate instruments, a body tissue and/or body cavities to other practitioners or personnel involved. Identification of the correct intervention point and the direction of a required movement (e.g., incision, needle advancement) can be of pivotal importance for completing these procedures. Verbal communication sometimes may not adequately provide the guidance. Laser pens are sometimes used for such indications.
In the course of an open surgery, many combinations of surgical instruments may be needed. For example, it is quite often that one or more blood vessels need to be severed in the course of an open surgery. In these cases, normally after introducing the scalpel the surgeon needs to provide means for closing and cauterizing such blood vessels. To do this, various surgical elements may be needed. Alternatively, it is known to use an electric scalpel or electric surgical pencil. This way, the blood vessels can be severed and cauterized in a single step. However, during cauterization smoke may hinder the view of the surgeon. Thus a further surgical instrument may be needed, namely a surgical smoke aspirator which will normally be operated by a surgical assistant.
Radio-guided surgery is also known, in which a patient is administered a radioactive material. The radioactive material concentrates e.g. in cancer cells. By using a radioactive probe, a tumor and affected tissue can be located and removed with precision. However, when the surgeon is holding the probe, his/her hands are unable to perform other actions. Thus normally the radioactive probe will be held/operated by a surgical assistant. Often both medical professionals cannot access the opening for the surgery at the same time, i.e. one person uses the radioactive probe to locate affected tissue and tells the surgeon where to cut.
Currently, many such combinations of surgical instruments, including, but not limited to, cutting, suturing, aspiration, clamping, cauterizing, irrigating, and various forms of tissue manipulation within a patient's body, may be needed simultaneously. And in all these and other combinations of surgical instruments for open surgery, visibility is very important, but often not ideal because more than one person is needed to handle different tools.
It is an object of examples of the present disclosure to provide alternative devices and kits for assisting in open surgeries, particularly for assisting or illuminating in open surgeries that at least partially overcome some of the aforementioned drawbacks.